Period TV shows have become something of an assured trend recently – the romance of cigarette-yielding men dressed in bowler hats and three-piece suits, making sexist and derogatory remarks about their secretaries, stylish retro scenes and the optimism of a progressive, somewhat glamorous era, yet to be jaded, have clearly become something of an enticement for TV executives to base their shows upon.
There are now several shows gracing our screens, which hark back to times gone by, giving passionate audiences of today a peek into what life and society were like several decades ago.
One that’s particularly had people talking recently is the HBO production, Boardwalk Empire, which, with a pilot episode costing 18 million US dollars and direction by none other than Martin Scorsese, has been widely acclaimed by the critics as being something for the producers of Mad Men to worry about.
Boardwalk Empire is cast during the prohibition period of the 1920s and 30s and documents the life of a politician, whose duties take him firmly across the boundaries from politics to the gangster worlds of Atlantic City. The politics are as rampant underground as they are in the federal arena and you can expect all sorts of compelling storylines tangled in bootlegging and the other criminal activities that take place in a city where the grip of control is both challenging and important to the government.
HBO UK are currently showing season 2 of Boardwalk Empire in the UK.
Something else that’s gained consistent notoriety on both sides of the Atlantic is Mad Men, which takes us back to the advertising hey day of the 1960s. Don Draper, creative director at a prestigious advertising agency, and his male colleagues compete daily for kudos both at and outside of work.
The show has won several awards and been recognised for its stylish visuals and retrospective authenticity.
Remaining in the 1960s, the most recent retro drama, Pan Am, which premiered in September 2011, gives viewers an insight into the glamour and prestige of the earlier airline industry days. It pays particular attention to the lives of the hostesses and pilots, both in the air and on the ground.
The show has been received fairly favourably by the critics in its early days and time will tell if it’ll build the momentum witnessed with both of the aforementioned hit shows.